BNP Paribas Chief Executive Jean-Laurent Bonnafe attends a news conference to present its second-quarter earnings in Paris August 2, 2012. BNP Paribas, one of the euro zone's biggest banks, reported a better-than-expected 13.2 percent fall in second-quarter earnings. BNP, which has more than half of its credit-risk exposure in the euro zone, is ahead in the race with local rival SocGen, revealing on Thursday it had hit a Tier 1 capital ratio of 8.9 percent under tougher Basel III rules at end-June - six months ahead of schedule. It said its deleveraging was 90 percent done. REUTERS/Julien Muguet (FRANCE - Tags: BUSINESS)